Before leaving for a weekend in Monaco, Mary Cain made sure to tell all her friends back home in Bronxville, N.Y., that she was going to Monte Carlo for four days.

The 17-year-old wunderkind saved her bigger announcements––that she was forgoing her collegiate eligibility to turn pro, that she would be signing an endorsement deal with Nike, and that she had hired Usain Bolt’s agent, Ricky Simms––for the eve of the World Athletics Gala here.

Cain gave a press conference to announce her decision. Following the press conference, she sat down for a one-on-one interview with Running Times to expand upon some of her comments from the press conference and to speak at length about her decision-making process and her outlook for the future.

Can you talk a little bit about the process that went into deciding whether to go to college or turn pro?

In the fall, when all of my friends started to get freaked out over college, I kind of got into that wave. I was really only looking at a few schools and I kind of narrowed it down to one, which was U of O (Oregon). I had an amazing trip there, and the coaches are really nice people. They definitely made it really hard for me, and I thank them for that. I think having another great choice made me really excited about the decision because I knew no matter what that I had a great opportunity. Ultimately, I decided to go pro because that is what makes the most amount of sense for me. I know there are a lot of people saying, ‘By going pro she isn’t going to have as much fun and will miss the team stuff.’ My take is that I have had such an amazing year this year just based on the fun of it. It has been so exciting and I have met so many great people. I have just had so much fun. I looked at both options, and both were great, but I kind of wanted to keep doing what I was doing and I felt the best way to do that was to take the next step by going pro.

You don’t have to look far in this sport to find a ton of prodigies who have come before you, not all of whom have [had success] the whole way. Have people come to you and your parents to offer advice so that you have the career that you believe you should have?

Definitely. We talked to a lot of people, but at the end of the day it was really my family and I who had to make this choice. I definitely look to people like Usain Bolt and Sanya Richards and especially Allyson Felix, being an American athlete who went pro right after high school. Of course I would like to replicate that career, but obviously as a 1500-meter runner. I don’t think I could hack it in the 200m. At the same time, I am a different person. I’m Mary, not Allyson. It’s going to be a different path, but I think with the support group that I have around me, no matter what happens in the next year, two years or 10 years, it’s going to be fun.

During your high school career, Alberto Salazar has sort of remote-controlled the coaching. Now that you have turned pro, what are the logistics as to how you will be coached?

For the rest of the year, I am still going to be in New York. I’m still a high school senior and you kind of have to do that. As of now, the goal is definitely to go to college in Portland. I have applied to the University of Portland. There are other options, but next year the plan is to definitely move out and be with the team and everyone out there.

Is it important for you to be in Portland for college or would you commute from the University of Oregon?

As of now I think my plan is to definitely be in Portland, just so I get a little bit more of the professional atmosphere. I love the group I am with in the Oregon Project. It’s a great group and I have a really good time around them. For me, I think it will be good to be around them but at college I will stay on campus so I will still get that college experience. It is an older group that I am with so I will have my younger friends and my older friends. It’ll be good.

How long did you weigh the decision, and what were some of the conversations with mom and dad like?

It was quite a while. I toured Oregon in early October and there was a process leading up to that. September, October and early November was kind of chaotic. But I tried to take this as a very positive thing. No matter what, they were both great options. There was a lot of sitting down for conversations with my parents and Alberto. The thing that made it hard was that we all agreed that anything would be good. There is no bad option. I know myself. I am a very driven athlete and I want to do really well in the sport, and I want to help the sport. Whether or not I get to the level that I want to, I think this is the best choice for trying to get there.

When you say that you want to help the sport, in what way do you mean?

In the U.S., track and field struggles and I am such a trackie. I love the sport. It’s one of those things where if I could garner a little more attention for it or make it a little more exciting, I would love to do that. Granted, I don’t expect to be in the tabloids or on TMZ walking around trying to get that kind of attention. If I can get a little more positive attention or inspire the person who does do it, that’s great.

Have you thought much yet about how life will change?

I have. It was definitely part of what went into the decision in that I didn’t want it to become such a huge change that it became intimidating. I think with both options, I wouldn’t be skydiving or doing crazy things, but in a way I think this is kind of the more linear path. I am already doing what I will be doing next year, the only difference is I will be paid for it.

This year indoors, do you have any plans to change what you have done in the past?

Hopefully I will follow a pretty similar path as I did last year, only running faster. I have been working a lot on form changes so I think this indoor season will be more of a testing opportunity to see how it’s going. I think it’s going well. I’m excited for indoors and racing again because it feels like it has been so long.

Will you pursue any of the championship meets?

World Indoors definitely, but World Juniors we’ll have to see how I am running then. I am actually looking forward to this being an off year (no Worlds or Olympics) for my first summer as a pro so that I can explore the circuit a lot and throw myself into insanely fast races and see what I can do.

What will your memories be of your first world championships and making the 1500m final in Russia?

Looking back, I am still like, ‘I was there? How did that happen?’ One year ago today, I was just starting with Alberto. I have always been a crazy kid in that I thought I could do it and believed in myself, but I didn’t really think I would be there. It was an amazing experience. I think the best part about it was the Team USA aspect. When we were there, it wasn’t like distance runners and sprinters and throwers. We were all there rooting for each other. From a racing perspective, that was amazing but it was also an awakening for me. You have to run three races back to back and I had never done that before.

What did you learn there and also racing on a world-class level?

I have to be a lot more competitive next year than I was this year. This year, somebody would elbow me and I would be like, ‘OK, I’ll just go hang out here in the back of the pack.’ In the heats, I was in dead last for like three and a half laps. Alberto was yelling. I felt so bad because he was freaked out. Afterward, watching the replay people didn’t even know I was in the race because I wasn’t even on the camera. Going into next year, I know I can’t do that. I can’t be the 17-year-old who is in the back. But it was a learning experience and looking back I am really glad that I made that mistake so going forward I know to never do that again. I learned that you have to be able to stay in that pack. Last year I had a lack of understanding. I didn’t know I could run 4:04 when I ran 4:04. Even at the Oxy race where I got the A standard, after two laps I started to fall back thinking, ‘Ugh, this is a fast pace. I can’t do this.’ Each year, I hope to get more confidence so I am not that last person in the pack.

Who are your running role models?

When I was a seventh-grader, I looked up to my current teammate Jordan Hasay. Of course, she had the national record in the 1500m. I was always the crazy kid that saw that and said, ‘I can get that, just give me a couple of years.’ Everyone else was like, ‘Yeah, good luck with that.’ I would say another person I always looked up to was Mary Decker. My mom was actually the first person who kind of put that connection in my mind. In eighth grade I used to wear the pig-tails trying to channel Mary through that. After the 2012 Olympics, obviously my teammates Mo Farah and Galen Rupp. After watching them, I was like, ‘I want to get on that team.’ Little did I know that a couple months later I was.

I still consider myself a track baby. I am walking around with all of these amazing athletes, but growing up I was a swimmer. 2012 was actually my first Olympics where I was like, ‘I want to be there for running.’ During Beijing and Athens, was like, ‘Olympic swimmer? I got this.’ I always loved Michael Phelps. I was a big-time Michael Phelps fan.

What did you like most about Michael Phelps?

I looked up to him mostly as a person. Obviously he won eight gold medals, which is pretty cool, but whenever he interviewed he came across so well and as such a nice guy. One thing with me in training, and something that I have to get over, is that I’m not very flexible. I get too intense and if I’m not hitting times I get freaked out. Michael would get up in interviews and say things like, ‘My coach broke my goggles before practice so I would have to learn how to deal with it.’ I thought that was awesome. Somebody needs to break my spikes before I go out and run.

Now that you have turned pro, do you think there is anything Alberto will change?

I wouldn’t say that much but it will probably be more intense. I am a professional athlete so hopefully it will be at the next level. But last year I treated myself as a pro, even though I wasn’t getting paid, and I think Alberto kind of did the same way. I mean, after the heats at Worlds we had a pretty intense talk. He said, ‘I know I am hard on you, but I have to be for you to get to the next level.’ So I think it will probably be pretty similar to how it was.

Over the past year, where have you done most of your training?

I have done all of it in New York. We’re a very small town about 15 minutes from Van Cortlandt Park. I go there sometimes to do longer stuff, but otherwise I am on the track. I am very anti-hard surface. Even yesterday, I went about a mile and a half and was like, ‘I have to stop. I am going on the treadmill.’ We are a concrete jungle though, and it is hard to find places. Next year might be more exciting in terms of me expanding my trail route.

Now that you’re pro, do you anticipate making more trips to Portland and training up at the Nike complex?

Yes and no. This winter we’re hoping that I can go out there for a long weekend or something in December. But otherwise, not really. Last spring, I had to do a lot of traveling for competing and saw the team a lot that way, then over the summer I did altitude training with them in St. Moritz. I anticipate this year being pretty similar to last year.

Do you anticipate more pressure being a professional athlete?

At my first U.S. championships last year, I was pretty freaked out. I actually don’t think it’s possible to be more freaked out. As I get older, even though there might be more riding on it, I think I’ll still feel more comfortable because I’ve done it before. There being more pressure was definitely part of the debate. There will be expectations because this is what I am doing for a living, but at the same time if I was on the collegiate circuit I would probably be expected to do even more. No matter what, this year will be harder than last year because I am no longer the dark horse. I am in the running for things, which brings a more intense atmosphere. I’ll be okay. It won’t suck the fun out of it.

Was last year a feel-it-out year before actually pulling the trigger on a professional career?

Definitely. Colleges were allowed to contact me beginning July 1, and we told them flat out not to contact me. Before then I was having a good season, but I was only focused on the running. July 1 is when I needed to start thinking, ‘Am I going this route, or am I going that route?’ I was like, ‘You know what? I just need to focus on what I am doing with the training and my racing.’

You have raced everywhere from 800m up to 5,000m. Where do you see your range going?

I would love to be a 100m runner but I don’t think that is ever going to happen. I am probably going to stay within that range because I am still very young and the 1500m is a good distance to tackle. Maybe I will become more of an 800m or 5K runner in the future, but for me when it comes to tactics and stuff like that I would say the 1500m is the distance for me.

From a training standpoint, do you have a favorite workout?

I love workouts where the distances gradually get shorter. Things like 800m/600m/400m because each one gets faster, but at the same time I am getting some distance in. I love speed. Tempos I think are my enemy. I am sooo over those.

What is the hardest workout Alberto has given you?

Tempos. I think the longest one I have done is only four miles. For me, I think a lot of it is a lack of confidence thing. I am very confident with my speed. I know I can do it. But with distances, after a mile I am like, ‘Jeez, I still have three more miles to go.’ If you’re not hitting the times, it is a lot more mentally trying. My goal this year is to conquer the tempo.

Typically, what is your mileage like?

I am kind of a 60-mile-per-week runner. Currently, I am on the low end, like 40, because I am totally focused on fixing my form. On the high end, I think the most I have ever done is probably 80, and it was literally for one week. The only reason it happened was because I had a thigh strain and couldn’t do speed work but could do distance stuff. That was a pretty high threshold for me.

What are your interests outside of running?

I really love reading, and I am a pretty competitive person academically. I’m pretty intense, although this year I backed off a bit. All of my friends are in the AP calc class like, ‘Why are you not in here with us suffering?’ But I hang out with friends. I am kind of just a normal kid.

How have your teachers adjusted to your schedule of travel and competing?

I am lucky that in my junior and senior years to have very supportive teachers. Occasionally, there would be the, ‘Where are you going and why?’ But for the most part they were understanding and excited to see what I could do. For a lot of people, including myself, I think everything is really weird.

What was the reaction of your teachers when they got the family note saying you would be in Monaco this weekend?

I only really told one of my teachers. The others I said, ‘I am not going to be here,’ and they said, ‘Eh. Go do what you’ve got to do.’ One of them asked if I was going to be in Oregon. I said, no I will be in Monaco. She said, ‘Okay. I don’t know if I should even ask.’

What do you think the reaction will be when they get the memo that you turned pro?

The funny thing about it is I think there are a lot of people who don’t realize that I was not pro. It’s one of those things where I think for some people there will be more surprise that it didn’t happen earlier and for other people there will be shock.

What about the whole celebrity aspect to it all? There aren’t too many 17-year-olds who have the kind of exposure that you do. Is that something you have had to deal with in your community?

It is something I have had to deal with. We’re a very small community where everybody knows everybody by first name and last name. We are a K through 12 school so people there have known me their whole lives. In the younger grades, it’s really sweet. Kindergartners are like, ‘Hi Mary!’ Older grades are kind of like, ‘Yeah, whatever.’

There is an obsession on some websites where you are hailed as the savior of everything. Do you read that stuff or do you just ignore it?

For the most part, I stay off a lot of blog sites. When I was younger, in seventh and eighth grade, nasty things were written on a lot of sites so I learned kind of young that you don’t want to go on there. Of course there are really supportive people on there too, but they’ll support me whether or not I am reading the blog. I stay off most running sites. I currently only have a Facebook, but I don’t go on that very often. I don’t have a Twitter. For a lot of things, I am not in that world and I try to stay out of it as much as possible. I’m kind of a dinosaur. I don’t have an iPhone yet, but I think one may be in the works.

What has the media attention been like and how have you dealt with it?

It’s definitely been weird. But it has been nice. I don’t go on the blogs or the websites, so when somebody tells me, ‘Good job!’ or notices my race, I am so excited that they picked up on it. I try to stay out of the media. I might make a Twitter or an Instagram this year just to kind of get a little more involved in the sport. But that doesn’t mean I am going to read into every blog. I like to control a little bit of what I am seeing. It’s not that I want to keep myself insulated, but some things you just don’t need to read, like adult men writing nasty things. I mean, they don’t know who I am.

When did you make that decision?

It was probably eighth grade or my freshman year. Attention was building, but wasn’t anything like where it is now. As a seventh and eighth grader, people in New York were excited. Freshman and sophomore seasons were very similar. My freshman year, after I won the 1500m at the state meet, that was the first time it was like, ‘Whoa!’ By my sophomore year, my parents and I were like, ‘We’re not going on these sites.’

Earlier you mentioned looking up to Jordan Hasay. Did you ever reach out to her for advice on how she dealt with the attention?

I didn’t really meet Jordan until she joined the Oregon Project. We had a great time running around all summer. It was nice having someone a little closer in age to me as well as older runners who have been through the ropes and can help you out. Jordan and I were very empathetic of each other though having been through similar situations.

When you say you are just a typical teenage girl, what are the things that you feel make you normal?

I still go to school. I still have to survive classes and homework like everyone else. After I work out, I still have to go and do that stuff. I listen to normal music. I am not listening back to tapes of my races to learn what I did wrong. I go to the movies. I hang out with friends. I try to have fun just like every other kid. Yes, I am going pro and that is a big step. It will be hard. But as long as I am having fun with it still, that is all that I care about. That has always been my goal. The second I stop having fun, I don’t know if it is worth it. I could be No. 1 in the world. If I’m not having fun with that, then why do it?